Material Girls

In this episode, we're talking about beloved computer game, The Sims, with special guest Ruth Ormiston. Ruth (they/them) is a book designer and cultural worker with an MA in English Literature from the University of Victoria (where they specialized in late-nineteenth-century children’s publishing) and a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University. And they're a fan of The Sims.Released 25 years ago, the game has seen many updates and dozens of expansion packs, all while retaining a grip on children and adults alike who flock to it for escapism, world-building, chaos, and play. In our conversation, Hannah contextualizes its reception in the early aughts and helps us understand its enduring success across a diverse audience through a look at Jack Halberstam's work, The Queer Art of Failure. Together, Ruth, Marcelle and Hannah consider the pleasure of the open-endednesThe Sims provides, while still being a designed game that has particular ideas about the world coded into it. As you can imagine, the conversation turns to heteropatriachy and capitalism before deep-diving into the exit-less pool of subversive possibilities enabled in the gameplay itself.This episode cites work from Tanja Sihvonen, Jack Halberstam, Diane Nutt, Diane Railston, Hanna Wirman and Rhys Jones.. ***To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back next week with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!***Material Girls is a show that makes sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another Material Concerns featuring Consumer Retorts and Oops All Oops! And some light panic from the team. We're fineeeeee!Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to listen to Part II. For as little as $54/year, you'll get ad-free episodes, bloopers, a backlog of content and part two of all Material Concerns episodes! Go to patreon.com/ohwitchplease now to join a tier that works for your budget!***Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jordan Peele's Get Out is a masterpiece both firmly planted in the rich tradition of horror and at the forefront of the growing genre of new Black horror. As auditors of the zeitgeist, we simply had to talk about the splash it made in 2017 and the conversation around its legacy since. In this episode we consider what made the narrative so impactful and we take a closer look at its reception by white audiences and critics who were particularly interested in claiming Peele's work as an example of "Black Excellence." Marcelle and Hannah parse the complexity of the term and pull on Cheryl Thompson's work to understand how "Black Excellence became the veil that shielded people from seeing how our systems and institutions are still rooted in White supremacist notions of ‘success’." To better understand the film itself, Marcelle then draws on “Horrifying Whiteness and Jordan Peele’s Get Out" written by Julia Mollenthiel — an artcile that defines a theoretical lens to help us think about the growing genre of new Black horror: “horrifying whiteness.”Even if you're a weenie when it comes to horror, this is an episode you don't want to miss! We promise there are no jump scares!***To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back next week with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!***Material Girls is a show that makes sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Material Concerns Hannah, Marcelle and Coach start with a sweet little check in, including Hannah's ideal way to start the day, a Pitt update from Marcelle, and some very exciting creative news from Coach. Then Coach leads a "Left on the Table" segment that turns into an impromptu Coach's Corner. And to finish off part one, the trio each gets a minute for their "Okay, Hear Me Out" segment, in which cases are made for: being nude around your friends, reading books written or set in the place you live, and that graphic novels should not be pulled from shelves in Alberta. Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to listen to Part II. For as little as $54/year, you'll get ad-free episodes, bloopers, a backlog of content and part two of all Material Concerns episodes! Go to patreon.com/ohwitchplease now to join a tier that works for your budget!***Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're finally talking about Hamilton! It's been ten years since the show premiered on Broadway and that's just enough time to have some perspective on its lasting impact. For this episode, we had to bring on previous guest and brilliant academic, Shira Lurie (who joined us on Witch, Please for Book 7, Ep. 2). As an expert in American History, Shira helps Hannah and Marcelle explore "Hamilton" as a reflection of the Obama era's rhetorical progressivism and political centrism. They discuss how the show leans on the myth of the American Dream and Hannah places the show in the hagiographic tradition of biography. If you love the musical or hate the musical, not to worry! We promise, this episode is for fans and critics alike.To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back next week with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!***Material Girls is a show that makes sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah, Marcelle and Coach are back together for a Material Concerns episode featuring Consumer Retorts and Creature Report! They talk The Pitt, heat waves. sloths, queer t-shirts, homemade ice cream, Labubus, being a good friend, and the power of eating carrots for the first time. Happy listening!Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to listen to Part II. For as little as $54/year, you'll get ad-free episodes, bloopers, a backlog of content and part two of all Material Concerns episodes! Go to patreon.com/ohwitchplease now to join a tier that works for your budget!***Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back from our summer break with an episode about The Hunger Games. Heads up that this episode connects the fictional world of Panem to real-world issues of representation and human rights, drawing parallels between the text and the genocide in Gaza. In this conversation, Hannah and Marcelle dig into representations of violence, resistance movements, and the normalization of child death. They then explore how Suzanne Collins' dystopian series engages with the concept of "grievability" and they consider The Hunger Games' immersive marketing campaigns that cemented the work as a mainstream cultural phenomenon. To learn more about Material Girls, head to our Instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Or check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back next week with a Material Concerns episode, but until then, go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is how we produce the show and pay our team! Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us there!***Material Girls is a show that makes sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a treat for you today with a drop-in episode from Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study. Culture Study is a podcast about the culture that surrounds you. This episode featuring Hannah and Marcelle is all about Royal Family gossip, colonialism, and empires in decline! Together, Anne, Hannah and Marcelle consider how royal fascination manifests differently depending on where you live, how you were raised, and identification (or lack thereof) with “your” generation of monarch.You can find Culture Study wherever you get your podcasts and at culturestudypod.substack.com.Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to become a supporter of the show. On Patreon you’ll get so many ad-free bonus episodes you will stop missing us completely. It costs as little as $5 USD a month to support the show but it is the difference between us paying Coach or not. Don’t you want to pay Coach? Don’t you want to listen to more episodes? Again head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease or wait until next week for a new episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re still on our Summer Break during this hot and beautiful month of July. But don’t fret, we’re dropping episodes every Tuesday that we’re gone! Today’s episode comes from Gender War Games, the podcast from Cristen Conger and Unladylike Media. Hannah and Marcelle were joined by Cristen on Material Girls for an episode about Avril Lavigne’s Clone “Melissa” and social surveillance. But today's drop-in is from Cristen's show Gender War Games. In the episode, Hannah, Marcelle and Cristen talk about how white womanhood is activated—politically, culturally, algorithmically—to reinforce systems of power. From tradwife aesthetics to terf rhetoric, strategic essentialism to state violence, they aim to makes sense of how white femininity gets mobilized. Cristen is brilliant and we think you’ll absolutely love this episode and her work if you aren’t already familiar with it. Enjoy!We’ll be back next week with another drop-in episode. If you’re missing us - hey we miss you too - and also you can always, always, head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to become a supporter of the show. On Patreon you’ll get so many ad-free bonus episodes you will stop missing us completely. It costs as little as $5 USD a month to support the show but it is the difference between us paying Coach or not. Don’t you want to pay Coach? Don’t you want to listen to more episodes? Again head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease or wait until next week for another July Drop-In. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’ve been following Witch Please Productions since the early days, then you know our roots go back to Harry Potter with our show Witch, Please. Hannah and Marcelle wrapped up seven seasons of the reboot in 2023 but they occasionally hop onto Harry Potter and the Sacred Text to talk about the book series, again. Today, we’re dropping in an episode from that show about Book 4, Chapter 22. In the conversation, Marcelle and Hannah chat with the charming and brilliant Matt Potts about dress robes, Fred and Angelina, and the joy and horror of school dances. Every episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text focuses on a theme and a central question. In this episode we ask: when is ceremony just a formality, and when does it signal a genuine transformation? For more Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, find the show everywhere you get your podcasts or head to www.harrypottersacredtext.com. If you want to visit or rediscover our show Witch, Please, you can find all our episodes in this feed by scrolling back! Or you can go to ohwitchplease.ca where we have listed all episodes of our original run and our reboot. We’ll be back next week with another drop-in episode, but until then, later, Witches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.